BUNSEN MEMORIAL LECTURE. 607 



gymnasium at Hokminden in Hanover, Bunsen entered the Uni- 

 versity m 1828, studied chemistry under Stromeyer (the discoverer 

 of cadmium), obtained his deg-ree in 1830, presenting tor this purpose 

 a thesis having the title - Enumeratio et descriptio hvgrometrorum - 

 He then visited Paris; arriving there at the latter 'end of Septem- 

 ber, 1832, he remained until the spring of 1833, meeting Reiset 

 Keonault, Pelouze, and Despretz. The latter proposed to Bunsen to 

 work m common at some problem in physical chemistrv. Sul)sc((U(M.tly 

 having visited Berlin and Vienna, continuing his studi.^s and making 

 acquaintance with the scientiiic men of those cities, Bunsen returned 

 to Gottingen, where, in 1834, he was admitted by the universitv as 

 privatdozent in chemistry. In this position he "lectured for three 

 semesters, and after Stroymeyer's death in 1835, Bunsen temporarilv 

 took up his work and lectured six days a week on theoretical and prac- 

 tical chemistry. In January, 1830, he was appointed teach(>r of chem- 

 istry in the Polytechnic School of Cassel as Wohler's successor. In 

 October, 1839, he became professor extraordinarius of chemistry in 

 the University of Marburg, and in 1842 was advanced to the position 

 of professor ordinarius. Remaining here until 1851, he went for a 

 short period to Breslau, and in 1852 he accepted the chair at Heidelberg 

 vacated by Gmelin, a post which he occupied until his retirement in 

 1889. In these several positions Bunsen labored incessantly and 

 devotedly for fifty-six years in the furtherance of chemical science, 

 with the result that his name will be handed down to posterity as one 

 whose work has earned for him the very first rank among chemists of 

 the nineteenth century. 



On the present occasion it is not possil)le to do more than to indicate 

 the nature and extent of Bunsen's work, so numerous are his published 

 investigations and so wide and far-reaching their scope. To hring 

 before you the general effect of the work, and to give you by some 

 examples the special characteristics of that work, is all that can be 

 now attempted. And for these o1)jects I propose to treat the matter 

 rather by classifying his work under separate heads of subjects than 

 by taking it in the chronological order of })ublication. 



But before commencing a review of some of his most important 

 researches it may be well briefly to refer to the early work hy which 

 he won his scientific spurs. The Hi-st paper was one of general inter- 

 est, as recording his discovery that freshly j)recipitate<l hydrated I'enic 

 oxide acts as a powerful antidote to arsenical poisoning l)\ renderitig 

 the arsenic insoluble both in water and in the secretions of the body. 

 This result of the withdrawal of the whole of th(> arsenic from solution 

 by this means forms a striking lecture e.\])eiiment (.louni. de IMiarni.. 

 1831 (20), 567; 1838 (24), !t3). 



His next communication shows the interest wliicli. in those early 

 days, Bunsen took in minerah)gy and chemical geology. >ul)je.t> in 



